Today’s QoW is a follow-up to John Yoder’s article last week titled The Mental Challenge of Dressing for Cold Weather Riding – offered up by John himself.
(We really need to replenish our stock of Questions! Please submit you own QoW ideas using the Question of the Week Ideas link.)
Deciding what to wear is probably as individualized as deciding what seat to use. That being said I’ll be happy to tell you what I wear.
First, a little about me. I’m 75 years old and have 54 years of riding experience. I raced for about 10 years, I’ve ridden for recreation, done club rides, did m any organized rides i.e. centuries, metrics, double centuries, etc. I’ve also toured. I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area and when I was working my commute was a 36-mile round trip and I commuted via bicycle year ‘round. I have three criteria for riding. 1. The temperature must be 20F or warmer. 2. The roads must be clear of snow and ice. 3. No precipitation. If those three are met, I’ll ride.
Here’s what I wear in cold weather. The list is all cumulative except where noted.
60 F I put on tights and arm warmers
50 F I add a lightweight, but not windproof jacket, and long-fingered glove liners worn under my fingerless cycling gloves
45 F I leave the arm warmers at home, add a wind proof rain jacket, medium weight cycling gloves and a long-sleeved poly fleece turtleneck top.
40 F I add a heavier weight gloves and a lightweight balaclava
35 F Insulated tights, ski gloves and a wicking “T” shirt
30 F Heavyweight ski gloves and neoprene booties
25 F Glove liners under the ski gloves
20 F Mittens (no, I don’t have any particular problems shifting or braking while wearing them.)
< 20 F I stay home or take the car. I tend to run pretty hot & don’t seem to be quite as “allergic” to cold weather as most other riders. The hardest part for me to keep warm are my fingers. They get cold if I even look out the window. *